Crystal Gorge. David Eddings

      ‘Aren’t we wandering just a bit?’ Zelana suggested. ‘We won’t know which way the bugs will move until one of the Dreamers gives us that information. I’d say let’s wait. In the light of what happened in my Domain and Veltan’s, we just don’t have enough information to lock anything in stone yet.’

      ‘Zelana’s right, you know,’ Veltan agreed. ‘We can’t be sure of anything until one of the children has one of “those” dreams.’

      ‘May I make a suggestion?’ the silver-haired Trogite Narasan asked.

      ‘I’ll listen to anything right now,’ Dahlaine replied.

      ‘I’m unfamiliar with the lands of the north and the east, but wouldn’t it make sense to alert the local population to the possibility of an incipient invasion? If the people of both regions know that there’s a distinct possibility that the bug-men will attack, they’ll be able to make some preparations.’

      ‘That makes sense, Aracia,’ Dahlaine conceded. ‘If what happened here and off to the west are any indication of what’s likely to happen in your Domain or mine, the local population will probably play a large part in giving us another victory.’

      Aracia glared at her older brother, but she didn’t respond.

      Longbow tapped Red-Beard’s shoulder. ‘Why don’t we go get a breath of fresh air,’ he quietly suggested.

      ‘It is just a bit stuffy in here,’ Red-Beard agreed. ‘Lead on, friend Longbow.’

      They went on out of the map-room and then some distance along the dimly lighted hallway.

      ‘Is it just my imagination or is Zelana’s older sister behaving a bit childishly?’ Longbow asked.

      ‘I don’t really know her all that well,’ Red-Beard said, ‘and I think I’d like to keep it that way. It seems to me that she’s got an attitude problem.’

      ‘Or maybe even something worse. Remember what happened back in the ravine? Suddenly, for no reason at all, Zelana jumped up, grabbed Eleria, and flew on back to her grotto on the Isle of Thurn.’

      ‘Oh, yes,’ Red-Beard said. ‘Sorgan almost had a fit when she ran off like that without giving him all that gold she’d promised him. If I remember right, it finally took a bit of bullying by Eleria to bring her back to her senses.’

      ‘I don’t know very much about Aracia,’ Longbow admitted, ‘but I’m starting to catch a strong odor of irrationality in her vicinity. Her mind doesn’t seem to work any more.’

      ‘I wouldn’t be too sure about that, Longbow,’ Red-Beard disagreed. ‘It might just be working very well. From what I’ve heard, anybody in her Domain who doesn’t want to do honest work joins the priesthood and spends all his time adoring her.’

      ‘That’s what I’ve heard too.’

      ‘Soldiering is one kind of honest work, isn’t it?’

      ‘Not as hard as farming is, maybe, but it’s still harder than adoring somebody.’

      ‘If that’s the way things are in her Domain, doesn’t that sort of suggest that she doesn’t have anything at all like an army over there? Wouldn’t that explain why she wants all the soldiers Zelana and Veltan hired to come on over to her territory to protect her if the bug-people decide to come her way?’

      ‘Very good, Red-Beard,’ Longbow said. ‘Maybe she’s not quite as irrational as it might seem. If her Domain is totally undefended, she’ll need just about everybody with a sword or a bow to come there to protect her. It’s very selfish, of course, but I don’t think that would bother her. She seems to believe that she’s the most important thing in the whole world, so from her way of looking at things, we’re all obliged to rush to her defense.’

      ‘There’s not much that we can do about it right now, friend Longbow – except possibly to suggest to Zelana that she’d better keep a close eye on her big sister.’

      ‘I’m sure that Zelana already knows about her sister’s peculiarities, but we might want to caution Sorgan and Narasan about this.’

      ‘You’re probably right. Should we go on back and listen to the screaming? or would you rather go fishing?’

      The squabbling of Dahlaine and Aracia continued for another half hour or so, and then Ara, Omago’s beautiful wife, joined them on the balcony of the map-room. ‘Supper’s ready,’ she announced.

      ‘That’s just about the best news I’ve heard all day,’ Sorgan Hook-Beak declared. ‘Let’s go eat before everything gets cold.’

      They all trooped on down the hallway to Veltan’s impromptu dining-room. That was one of the characteristics of the elder gods that Red-Beard had never fully understood. There was a certain practicality involved in their lack of a need for sleep. If some kind of emergency came up, a sleeping god might not be able to deal with it, but Red-Beard couldn’t for the life of him see why they didn’t eat. They didn’t need nourishment, of course, but there was more to eating food than just satisfying the grumbling in the belly. Dinners in particular were generally something along the lines of a social event that brought people closer together and smoothed over various disagreements. Red-Beard was almost positive that the elaborate dining-room in Veltan’s house hadn’t even been there before the outlanders had arrived, and he was fairly sure that the dining-room Veltan had added to his house had originally been Ara’s idea. Omago’s wife was quite probably the best cook in the entire world, but she was wise enough to know that getting people together and establishing friendships was even more important than eating. There were several peculiarities about Ara that Red-Beard didn’t fully understand – yet.

      He was still working on it, though.

      Oddly, Veltan and Zelana were accompanying them to the dining-room. Since they didn’t need – or want – food, they obviously had something else on their minds.

      The conversation at the dinner table was fairly general, but after they’d all eaten – more than they really needed, of course – Zelana and Veltan took Sorgan and Commander Narasan aside and spoke with them at some length.

      Red-Beard nudged his friend Longbow after supper. ‘I could be wrong about this, I suppose, but I think Zelana and Veltan might have come up with a way to make peace in their family, and it’s probably going to involve Sorgan and Narasan.’

      ‘What a peculiar sort of idea,’ Longbow murmured.

      ‘You saw it too, didn’t you?’

      ‘It was just a bit obvious, friend Red-Beard. I think it might disappoint Holy Aracia a little, though.’

      ‘What a shame,’ Red-Beard said with a broad grin.

      ‘That’s a nasty sort of thing to say.’

      ‘So beat me.’

      When they returned to the map-room, Sorgan Hook-Beak cleared his throat as a sort of indication that he was about to make a speech. ‘Narasan and I talked this over, and I think we might have come up with a way to deal with the problem that’s been nagging at us here lately,’ he announced. ‘Since we can’t be certain sure exactly where the bug-people will strike next, we’ll have to cover both possibilities. Since Lord Dahlaine’s territory is farther away than his sister’s is, Narasan and I pretty much agreed that I should cover that part of the Land of Dhrall – not because my men are better warriors, but because our ships move faster than Narasan’s can. Of course, that’s why we built them that way. Chasing down Trogite ships and robbing them is the main business in the Land of Maag, but we can talk about that some other time. Since my people will cover the north, Narasan’s will cover the east.’ He gestured down toward Veltan’s “lumpy map”. ‘If that map’s anywhere at all close to being accurate, it’ll only take Narasan’s fleet a few days to reach Lady Aracia’s territory, and he can protect that region. That means that we’ll